maid • kaeya

l

• third person •

"Good morning!" Luca chirped, a familiar scent of breakfast wafting through the air.

"Morning..." Leon glanced around. "Where's Lucien?"

"She wanted to visit the winery again, so she went with (Y/N) to work," Luca answered, as he began to plate the food he had made. "You just missed them. Here, there's still breakfast left for you."

"Oh... thanks." Leon approached the table.

Luca tilted his head at Leon's unusually down demeanour.

"Are you alright? Are you still feeling weak?" he asked in concern.

"Good days and bad days," Leon murmured. "My limbs are tingling a lot more today."

"Oh..." A frown curved Luca's lips. "Come, sit." Luca pulled out the chair. "Is the medicine not working?"

Leon sat, a small smile on his face. "It's helping with the pain. Just making me feel even more numb though, really." He sighed when Luca's healing field surrounded them again. "Sorry..."

"Why are you apologising?" Unexpectedly, Luca nuzzled the top of Leon's head. "You should have told me if you weren't feeling well..."

"I was fine..." Leon heaved a sigh. "It just seems that... when it's just us, my whole body just flops."

At that, Luca beamed. "You mean, you're comfortable being weak around me?"

Leon huffed, folding his arms. "I suppose..."

Immediately, Luca burst into giggles. His healing field remained as he bent down, pressing a small kiss upon Leon's lips. Leon blushed, looking away.

Leon never used to be the touchy type. But, when it came to Luca, he could do anything to him.

"What are we doing about that letter from Cerise? Have you told Lucien yet?" Leon questioned, changing the subject.

"Mm..." Luca breathed a sigh, sitting also. "I haven't had the chance... I've been trying to focus on (Y/N) recently and..."

Leon leant back. "You know you can focus on two things at once, right? You did it well when Ilse was still around."

"I know but..." Luca rubbed his hands over his face. "Back then, (Y/N) was a kid and... she was easily entertained. I didn't have to stress about her all of the time. And I wasn't looking after her by myself... It's been (Y/N) and I for so long now too... so I can't help but stress even more about her, especially with how she's been feeling recently..."

"(Y/N)'s going to turn eighteen next year, isn't she?" Leon tilted his head. "Isn't it okay for her to... you know... be a little more independent?"

"Whether she wants to be independent or not, she's still my child, Leon." Luca's eyes fluttered shut. "She already is independent. I'm just worried that she's being... too independent. And not telling me when things are going wrong. I'm just worried about her."

In a strange silence, Leon stared at Luca's slightly defeated demeanour. Leon grew up alone pretty much his entire life, so this conversation wasn't one he really understood much.

The healing field around them vanished. Leon winced slightly.

"Well... we still have to do something about Lucien's situation. You can't brush it off forever. The longer we leave it, the more danger you put both her and (Y/N) in."

Leon fiddled with the breakfast in his plate. "At least tell Lucien. She needs to know at least. It's mostly her business, after all. We can decide what to do after that. I don't think she's planning to stay here forever, after all."